All Hail Contraceptives!

According to Merriam-Webster, birth control is a way to control the number of children or offspring born especially by preventing or lessening the frequency of conception. But in fact, birth control is much more than a contraceptive.

Birth control can help women reduce the pain of their periods, control their period schedule, reduce acne and more aid in more serious illnesses such as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. Without insurance coverage of birth control, the 74.7 million women in the reproductive age range, 62% of whom use some form of birth control, will be impacted.

Since the beginning of the Trump administration, birth control coverage has been on the line. The Trump administration allows for companies, large or small, religious or secular, to deny insurance coverage to their employees on birth control methods, including but not limited to birth control pills, birth control rods, IUDs, birth control shots, birth control patches, or birth control sponges. This is a violation of the Affordable Care Act, which originally stated that all companies must allow for coverage of contraceptives. Due to a series of lawsuits brought on by Hobby Lobby, Conestoga Wood Specialties, and other Christian owned companies, the Supreme Court ruled that religious owned companies may be exempt from providing contraceptive coverage for their employees if they believe it violates their religious beliefs. Now under the Trump administration, religious and ‘moral’ grounds against birth control are on the same level and any company can refuse coverage to their employees.

A month’s worth of pills can cost up to $100 and doctor’s visits related to birth control up to $250 out of pocket, according to Planned Parenthood. That is a good bit of money. While Medicaid covers birth control in most cases—though it varies state to state—there are many people that cannot afford birth control and do not qualify for Medicaid. Long-acting reversible contraceptives are the most expensive, meaning only 7% of women in the United States use them, according to Slate.

With the given facts, evangelicals and pro-lifers have little to argue about the flaws of contraceptives considering the amount of money saved and abortions prevented each year if contraceptives were more readily available across the nation.